Certain panoramic images of geographic scenes are associated with information relating to the geographic location and orientation from which the various portions of the image was captured. For example, each pixel of the image may be associated with data that identifies a ray that extends from the geographic location from which the image was captured to the portion of the surface of an object (if any) whose appearance is represented by the visual characteristics of the pixel.
Panoramic images such as the foregoing may be used to create a three-dimensional model of the surfaces of the object captured in the image. For instance, stereographic triangulation may be used to generate a model from two images of the same scene captured from different geographic locations. Models may also be created using other techniques, such as using a laser-range finder to create depth map data that is associated with the image. Such data may be used to create a collection of polygons whose vertices are associated with the 3D geographic-location of portions of the surfaces represented by the model. The polygons may be textured by projecting the image data onto the model.
The aforementioned models may be displayed to users via an electronic display. For example, a user may use a computer to download a 3D model and display it from different vantage points that are selected by the user.